M'sian sentenced to 11 years in prison for crystal meth possession

A Malaysian man was sentenced to 11 years in prison by a North Kalimantan court on Thursday over possession of methamphetamine crystals.

Tarakan district court judge Maha Nikmah also ordered 45-year-old Ng Chuan Ho to pay a fine of Rupiah 1 billion (RM265,600) or face an additional three months in prison, as reported by the Jakarta Globe.

Ng and another man identified as Yunus were arrested by the Tarakan police narcotics unit on Feb 1, this year as both were heading to Makassar, South Sulawesi and detained in a parking lot of the Juwata Tarakan airport shortly after they arrived from Tawau, Sabah.

Police confiscated 9.85 grams of crystal methamphetamine, one ecstasy pill and two bongs in the case.

"A gold necklace and bracelet, Rupiah 160 million and RM16,671 worth of cash, the defendant's identity card and passports will be returned to him because they were not proven to be linked to selling of the meth," Maha said.

Yunus was sentenced to one-and-a-half years in prison because he was found guilty for possession of only the ecstasy pill.

The sentence was lower than the 16 years imprisonment sought by prosecutors.